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Agence France-Presse

The only US soldier known to still be living in North Korea after defecting more than five decades ago died last year pledging his loyalty to the “great leader Kim Jong-un”, his sons said.
James Joseph Dresnok was among just a handful of American servicemen to desert following the Korean war, crossing the heavily fortified demilitarised zone in 1962.
He went on to appear in North Korean propaganda films and was believed to be the last US defector in the country, the others all having died or been allowed to leave.
US-South Korea war games start as Pyongyang warns of ‘actual fighting’
In a video interview posted on the state-run Uriminzokkiri website, Ted and James Dresnok, his two adult sons, confirmed their father suffered a fatal stroke in November last year.
“Our father was in the arms of the republic and received only the love and care of the party until his passing at age 74,” said Ted Dresnok, the elder of the two.
We will not miss the opportunity and wipe the land of the US from the earth forever
Ted Dresnok
Brown-haired and hazel-eyed, he wore a Korean People’s Army uniform in the video like his brother, adorned with a badge depicting the North’s founder Kim Il-sung and his son and successor Kim Jong-il.
Both men were born in North Korea, and spoke Korean with a heavy northern accent.
“Our father asked us to render devoted service to our great leader Kim Jong-un,” said Ted Dresnok, who also goes by the Korean name Hong Soon-chol.
Their comments were similar to those of ordinary North Koreans, who normally only ever express officially approved sentiments when speaking for a foreign audience.
It was the brothers’ second appearance on the programme, after they praised the country in a May 2016 interview.
Addressing the recent spike in tensions between Pyongyang and Washington, Ted Dresnok warned that “US imperialists” were raising “war hysteria madness” with little knowledge about the North’s military and its people.
If war breaks out, he said: “We will not miss the opportunity and wipe the land of the US from the earth forever.”

Trump or Kim: who are you calling crazy?
Tensions have been mounting in the region since Pyongyang tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) last month, which appeared to bring much of the US within range.
That sparked a volley of threats between Pyongyang and Washington, with President Donald Trump warning of “fire and fury” on the North while Pyongyang threatened to fire a salvo of missiles towards the US territory of Guam.
“We have our dear supreme commander Kim Jong-un. If he is by our side, our victory is certain,” said James Dresnok, who also goes by his Korean name Hong Chol, in the video posted on Friday.
The late James Dresnok, known as Joe, crossed a minefield at age 21 to reach North Korea, after his wife divorced him and he was reportedly about to be court-martialed.
Watch: US airbase near the North Korean border


He was the subject of a British documentary in 2006, Crossing the Line, and expressed satisfaction with his life in Pyongyang, whose citizens enjoy better standards of living than those elsewhere in the isolated country.
He also told a CBS interview that he would not leave even if “you put a billion damn dollars of gold on the table”.


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North Korea

‘In the arms of the republic’: US defector to North Korea Joe Dresnok confirmed dead

James Joseph Dresnok looks up at the statue of late North Korean president Kim Il-sung in Pyongyang in the film Crossing the Line. Photo: AP

In this Aug. 14, 2017, photo distributed Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017, by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un acknowledges a welcome from the military officers during his visit to Korean People's Army's Strategic Forces in North Korea. The Korean Central News Agency said Tuesday that Kim during an inspection of the KPA's Strategic Forces praised the military for drawing up a "close and careful" plan. Kim said he will give order for the missile test if the United States continues its "extremely dangerous actions" on the Korean Peninsula. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

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Sons reveal on state-run website he died in November of a fatal stroke
